EP2555658A1

EP2555658A1 - Beverage maker having a lockable actuation rod

Info

Publication number: EP2555658A1
Application number: EP10740125A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Jørgen BODUM
Original assignee: Pi Design AG
Current assignee: Pi Design AG
Priority date: 2010-04-08
Filing date: 2010-08-03
Publication date: 2013-02-13
Anticipated expiration: 2030-08-03
Also published as: CA2792183A1; EP2555658B1; US9107541B2; CN102821662A; AU2010281286A1; RU2012144570A; US20130010568A1; NZ602104A; WO2011014972A1; CH702957A1; DK2555658T3; JP2013524875A; AU2010281286B2; CN102821662B

Abstract

The invention relates to a beverage maker, which comprises a container (10) that is open at the top thereof and a lid (20) that covers the container. A removal opening (29) is formed in the lid. A vertical actuation rod (41) passes through the lid. Inside the container, a preparing element (42), for example, a mixing element, is attached to the actuation rod. Outside the container, a grip element (45) is attached to the actuation rod. The grip element can be moved together with the actuation rod between a lower position and an upper position. A closure (30) can be swiveled about a horizontal swivel axis between a closed position that closes the removal opening and a retaining position that releases the removal opening, wherein in the retaining position, the closure fixes the grip element in the lower position thereof. The actuation rod is thereby effectively prevented from sliding out through the removal opening when the beverage is removed.

Description

TITLE

Beverage maker with lockable actuating rod

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a beverage maker having an upwardly open vessel and a vessel overlapping lid having a discharge opening. An actuating rod with a preparation element attached thereto, e.g. a mixing element, a foaming element or a die filler, passes through the lid and is movable relative to the lid between a lower and an upper position. A closure closes the removal opening of the lid in a closed position. The actuating rod is blocked by the closure in its lower position when it assumes a holding position.

STATE OF THE ART

From the state of the art, stamp filter coffee makers (often referred to in English as "French Press") from which the coffee can be drunk directly after its preparation are known Press "offered. Such a coffee maker is disclosed in US 6,324,966. The coffee maker has a vessel and a lid covering the vessel upwards. The lid has a drinking opening for the finished coffee. The lid is penetrated by a piston rod, at the lower end of a stamp filter is attached with a fine-meshed network. The stamp filter is pushed down over the piston rod in the vessel in order to retain the leached coffee grounds in a ground-proximal region of the vessel after brewing. For this purpose, a handle element is attached to the upper end of the piston rod. In one embodiment, a closure is pivotally hinged to the handle member. In a fully inserted, lower position the piston rod, the closure can pivot about a horizontal axis between a closing position closing the drinking opening and a release position releasing the drinking opening. In another embodiment, the closure is hinged directly to the lid. The lid has a jacket wall with a drinking edge, which makes it possible to drink the finished coffee directly from the drinking opening out. So that the grip element of the piston rod does not interfere with drinking, a depression is formed in the lid, which receives the grip element. In order to prevent the piston rod from slipping into the face of the drinking user when drinking, a releasable locking connection can be provided between the grip element and the lid. In order to release the latching connection, the user grips the gripping element or, in the case of the corresponding embodiment, the closure hinged to the gripping element in order to pull the gripping element upwards. However, this handling is somewhat cumbersome and hygienic not completely satisfactory. Other types of beverage makers are known from the prior art, which have other types of preparation elements on an actuating rod instead of a stamp filter, wherein the actuating rod passes through a lid of the vessel. For example, US Pat. No. 2,162,348 discloses a beverage maker which has an actuating rod in the form of a coarse-screw spindle which is guided in a complementary internal thread in the lid of the beverage maker. At the upper end of the actuating rod, a handle element in the form of a handle knob is rotatably mounted. At the lower end of the actuating rod, a propeller-like mixing element is mounted rotatably. To actuate the mixing element, the handle member is alternately pulled up and pressed down. Due to their thread guide perform the actuating rod and the mixing element while a helical motion, ie the mixing element rotates while it moves simultaneously upwards or downwards to effect a thorough mixing of the contents of the vessel. In order to prevent the actuating rod from slipping out when pouring the beverage, a closure is provided on the lid, which closes a removal opening of the lid in a closed position and which releases the removal opening in a holding position and at the same time blocks the grip element in its lowermost position. For this purpose, the closure between the closed position and the holding position is horizontally displaceable, wherein it is in the holding position on one at the bottom of the Handle member trained annular flange engages and blocks it with respect to a vertical movement upwards. However, when the handle member is not in its lowermost position, the shutter can still be operated without blocking the handle member, and the actuator rod may still slip out during such misoperation.

PRESENTATION OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a beverage maker with a preparation element on an actuating rod, in which the actuating rod for removing the beverage is easily and safely blocked and incorrect operation can be avoided.

This object is achieved by a beverage maker according to claim 1. Advantageous embodiments are specified in the dependent claims.

It is therefore a beverage maker specified, which has:

an open-topped vessel;

a vessel covering the lid, in which a Entnahmöffhung is formed;

an actuating rod extending through a central passage opening of the cover into the vessel and defining a longitudinal axis;

a preparation element mounted within the vessel on the actuating rod, preferably at its lower end;

an outside of the vessel on the actuating rod, preferably at the upper end, mounted handle member which is movable together with the actuating rod between a lower position near the lid and a lid-top position, and

a shutter movably connected to the lid, which is movable between a closed position closing the removal opening and a holding position releasing the removal opening.

In the holding position, the closure fixes the grip element in its lower position. As a result, the operating rod is effectively blocked. In order to achieve this fixation, the closure between the closed position and the holding position about a transverse to the longitudinal axis extending horizontal pivot axis relative to the lid is formed pivotable. This makes it possible to design the closure so that it can only be pivoted into the holding position when the grip element is in its lower position, since otherwise the actuating rod would be in the way. For this purpose, the closure is preferably pivotable over the gripping element from the closed position into the holding position when the gripping element is in or near its lower position.

The closure is preferably designed such that it covers the handle element at least partially upwards in the holding position and thereby blocks it. For this purpose, the grip element may be asymmetrical with respect to the longitudinal axis, so that it has an area near the axis and a region projecting from the area close to the axis transversely to the longitudinal axis, which in the holding position e.g. points away from the removal opening of the lid. This projecting portion then preferably extends in the lower position of the handle member spaced from the lid (in particular to a top wall of the lid) to facilitate gripping the handle member with the finger of a user. The closure then preferably at least partially covers the protruding region of the grip element in the holding position. The closure may in other embodiments, but the handle element in another area, for. in an area offset by about 90 ° to the removal opening about the longitudinal axis area, overlap and thereby fix, or the closure may pinch the grip element on its radially outer side, instead of covering it.

At least one first latching structure is preferably formed on the closure in order to releasably latch the closure in the holding position to the lid. The first latching structure may in particular be a recess in the form of a latching notch in the latch which, in the holding position, can be locked with a rear edge area of the lid.

In addition, at least one second latching structure is preferably formed on the closure, in order to be able to detach the closure, even in the closed position, with the lid lock. It has proven useful if the closure has a protruding actuating portion, and if the second latching structure is formed by a hook-like forward bent portion of the actuating portion, which covers a front edge portion of the lid in the closed position and releasably locked with this. The first latching structure is then preferably formed in a rearward, closer to the longitudinal axis than the second latching structure located portion of the actuating portion. The actuating region preferably extends in the closed position substantially along a direction which points both radially upwards and radially with respect to the longitudinal axis, ie obliquely upwards, and rests against a jacket wall of the cover which at least partially surrounds a cover wall of the cover , As will be described below, this jacket wall can widen at the top and form a drinking edge with its front edge region. The second latching structure thus locks in such embodiments with the front edge region of the jacket wall when the closure is in the closed position, and the first latching structure then preferably locks with a rear edge region of the jacket wall radially opposite the front edge region when the closure is in the holding position located.

Preferably, the pivot axis extends from the removal opening as seen from the longitudinal axis, i. it has a larger minimum distance from the removal opening than the longitudinal axis. This makes it easier to make the closure so that it protrudes with its operating range in the holding position to the rear over the lid, so that it can be easily released again from the holding position. In addition, this rearward arrangement of the pivot axis causes the pivoting range of the closure with the operating rod pulled out is very small, so that it is not possible to accidentally remove the drink from the vessel when the

Actuating rod is pulled out completely or partially.

Preferably, the lid is designed so that it is possible to drink the finished beverage directly through the removal opening. For this purpose, the lid then has at least in a front edge region on a drinking edge, which is adapted to drive through the removal opening (which can then be called a drinking opening) removable drink on the drinking edge directly to the mouth. Preferably, the Drinking edge formed by the upper edge of a widening towards the top, thus thus obliquely upwardly and outwardly extending shell wall of the lid, as already described above. Alternatively, it is also conceivable that the cover is designed such that the finished beverage can be poured through the removal opening. In this case, a beak-like spout is preferably formed on the lid.

Thus, the handle element does not interfere with drinking or pouring, a recess is formed in the lid (preferably in the top wall of the lid), which at least partially receives the handle member in the lower position of the handle member. In the above-mentioned asymmetric configuration of the grip element with a protruding region, this region then preferably projects out of the depression in order to facilitate gripping the grip element. On the gripping element and / or on the recess may optionally also be formed a circumferential seal to seal the handle member against the recess. Between the vessel and the lid is preferably also a circumferential seal, so that the entire beverage maker is closed liquid-tight in the closed position of the closure. The closure preferably has a substantially rigid support and a closure body connected thereto, which can protrude into the removal opening, for example, or can rest on the cover surrounding the removal opening and seal the removal opening in a sealed manner. In particular, this closure body may be made of a softer material than the carrier and, for example, be sprayed onto the carrier in a two-component injection molding process. The carrier preferably has two arms, which are guided past the closure opening (and thus on the actuating rod) on both sides of the closure body and whose free ends are pivotally connected to the lid in the region of the pivot axis. Distances from the closure body can also be formed on the carrier (or on the lid), a spring element which acts in the closed position, the closure in the direction of the holding position with a spring force. This makes it easier to pivot the closure after releasing the latching between the second latching structure and the lid from the closed position to the holding position. This spring element may also consist of a be made softer material than the carrier, in particular of the same material as the closure body, and may be molded together with this on the carrier.

The beverage maker may in particular be used as a mixing device for the preparation of milk mix drinks, e.g. Cocoa, or beverages of soluble powders, e.g. of instant coffee or instant coffee blends such as cappuccino blends. For this purpose, the actuating rod may be formed as a coarse thread spindle with an external thread, and in the passage opening of the lid, a female thread complementary to the external thread may be formed. The internal thread can be formed in particular in a serving as a bearing sleeve portion of the lid. This area is preferably formed below the aforementioned recess for (partially) receiving the handle member. The helical spindle has a pitch that is large enough that a force acting along the longitudinal axis results in a torque about the longitudinal axis such that thereby the helical spindle is simultaneously rotated with an upward or downward movement in rotation. For this purpose, the ball screw spindle preferably has a ratio of thread pitch P to diameter D of P / D> 5. It may be catchy or multi-threaded and is preferably three-flighted. So that the grip element does not rotate during the screw movement of the actuating rod, the grip element is preferably mounted rotatably about the longitudinal axis on the actuating rod.

The preparation element is preferably a mixing or stirring element which is rigidly connected to the actuating rod and has at least one mixing arm extending transversely to the longitudinal axis from the threaded spindle, preferably at least two, in particular three, such mixing arms

Propellers arranged and each may be inclined at an angle to the horizontal. Of course, other types of mixing or stirring elements are possible.

Alternatively, the preparation element can also be a piston with a fine-mesh sieve extending transversely to the longitudinal axis. In this case, the Depending on the application, the actuating rod may be designed as a simple piston rod or as a threaded spindle Wire loops are also possible.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Preferred embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to the drawings, which are given by way of illustration only and not by way of limitation. In the drawings show:

1 is a perspective view of a beverage maker according to the invention according to a first embodiment;

FIG. 2 shows a central longitudinal section through the beverage maker of FIG. 1; FIG.

3 is a perspective view of the beverage maker, in which the closure is visible in its closed position.

4 shows a perspective view of the beverage maker, in which the closure can be seen in its holding position; and

5 shows a central longitudinal section through the lid region of a beverage maker according to the invention in accordance with a second

Embodiment. DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIGS. 1 to 4 show a beverage maker according to the invention in accordance with a first embodiment. The beverage maker comprises a double-walled vessel 10 made of a transparent plastic, with an outer bottom 11, an inner bottom 12, an outer side wall 14 and an inner side wall 15. In an annular connecting region 13, the inner bottom 12 rests on the outer bottom 11. The outer side wall 14 and the inner side wall 15 are connected to each other in their upper edge region, in particular welded together. A cuff 16 off a relatively soft material, such as silicone rubber, lies in a slight depression of the outer side wall 14 on the outside thereof and surrounds the outer side wall 14 in this area. In an upper edge region of the inner side wall 15, an internal thread 17 for connecting the vessel 10 with a lid 20 is formed.

The cover 20 has a circumferential jacket wall 21, which widens upwards. Toward a front edge region, which forms a drinking edge 26, the jacket wall extends further upwards than towards a rear edge region 27. The jacket wall 21 surrounds a cover wall 22 in which an extraction opening serving as a drinking opening 29 adjoins the front region of the jacket wall is. Below the top wall 22, an external thread 23 is formed on the outside of the jacket wall 21, which engages in the internal thread 17 of the vessel 10. A sealing ring 18 seals the lid 20 against the vessel 10. In the top wall 22, a recess 24 for receiving a handle element 45 described in more detail below is formed. Below the recess, a guide sleeve 25 is formed, which serves to guide an actuating rod in the form of a threaded spindle 41 described in more detail below and for this purpose has an internal thread. The guide sleeve 25 defines a vertical passage opening for the threaded spindle 41st

The threaded spindle 41 is part of a mixing unit 40 and defines with its longitudinal direction a vertical longitudinal axis L. On its outer side it carries a mehrgängiges (here dreigängiges) coarse thread, the ratio of thread pitch to diameter here is significantly more than 5. The internal thread of the guide sleeve 25 is formed correspondingly complementary to this coarse thread. The threaded spindle 41 is rigidly connected at its lower end to a mixing element 42 in the form of a three-bladed propeller. A lock nut 43 is screwed onto the lower end of the threaded spindle 41 and fixes the mixing element 42 on the threaded spindle. For cleaning purposes, the lock nut 43 is detachable. As a result, the mixing element 42 is removable from the threaded spindle 41. At its upper end, the threaded spindle 41 is rotatably connected to a handle member 45. For this purpose, the grip element 45 sits on a rotatably mounted on the threaded spindle 41 bushing 44. The grip element 45 is formed asymmetrically, with a rotationally symmetrical, slightly upward widening central, near-axis region and a transverse to the longitudinal axis L protruding grip region 46, which facilitates the gripping of the grip element 45. At its free end, the handle portion 46 is angled slightly downwards. The mixing unit 40 can be moved up and down with respect to the cover 20 with the aid of the grip element 45. In this case, the threaded spindle 41 is guided in the guide sleeve 25 such that it performs a screw movement about the longitudinal direction during compression or tension along the longitudinal direction. As a result, the mixing element 42 also carries out a screw movement, that is to say a superimposition of a translation along the longitudinal axis and a rotation about the longitudinal axis. Since the grip element 45 is rotatably mounted on the threaded spindle 41, the grip element 45 does not need to follow the rotational movement and can be guided by the user in any orientation to the vessel 10 and cover 20. In its lowermost position, the handle member 45 is partially received in the recess 24 of the lid 20 when the projecting handle portion 46 extends in a radial direction facing away from the drinking opening 29. In this case, the grip region 46 extends at a distance from the cover wall 22 of the cover, which extends in a curved manner downwards in this region. In order to pull the grip element 45 out of the depression 24, the grip element 45 can thereby easily be grasped from below by a user's finger on the grip region 46 and pulled up again.

On the cover 20, a closure 30 is pivotally articulated about a horizontal pivot axis S (FIG. Although the pivot axis S is close to the center, but on a side facing away from the drinking opening 29 of the longitudinal axis L. The closure 30 comprises a support 34 made of a dimensionally stable material, on the underside of a closure body 32 (FIG. 4) made of a softer, elastically deformable material in Two-component injection molding process is formed. Distanced from the closure body 32, a spring element 36 (FIG. 4) is also formed on the underside of the carrier 34 from the same elastically deformable material, which is connected to the closure body 32 via a material bridge and serves to open the closure in the position of FIG slightly loaded upwards with a spring force. The carrier 34 has two arms which extend from the closure body 32 respectively extend a quarter circle in the horizontal about the longitudinal axis L when the shutter is in the position of Fig. 3. The free ends of the arms are each connected via two laterally projecting pin areas about the pivot axis S pivotally connected to the lid. The carrier also has a projecting actuating region 31 which, in the position of FIG. 3, protrudes obliquely forwards and upwards from the rest of the carrier and bears against the casing wall 21 of the lid 20. At the free end of the actuating portion 31, a hook-like structure 33 is formed, which projects beyond the drinking edge 26 in the position of Fig. 3 and a releasable latching connection with the drinking edge 26 is received. As a result, the closure in the position of Fig. 3 can be releasably secured to the lid. In this position, the closure body 32 closes the drinking opening 29. This position is therefore referred to below as the closed position. Two flank regions 28 of the lid 20 flank the closure 30 laterally in this position. In the lower position of the mixing unit 40, ie in particular when the grip element 45 is located in the recess 24, the closure 30 can be pivoted from the closed position into a holding position, which is illustrated in FIG. 4. In this case, the closure 30 is pivoted over the grip element 45 away. In the holding position, the closure 30 releases the drinking opening 29 and at the same time fixes the mixing unit 40 in such a way that it can not move upwards from the lower position. For this purpose, the closure 30 covers the protruding grip region 46 of the grip element 45 in the region of its downwardly angled free end. For this purpose, the carrier 34 of the closure 30 is provided with a chamfer 37 (FIG. 3) on its side facing away from the closure body 32. The closure 30 is locked in this position with a rear edge region 27 of the shell wall 21 of the lid. For this purpose, a notch 35 is formed on the actuating portion 31 of the shutter 30, which is closer to the pivot axis S because of the slightly decentralized arrangement of the pivot axis S as the hook-like structure 33. To prepare a drink, the user fills the ingredients in the open vessel 10, im In the case of soluble coffee, for example, soluble coffee powder, which may optionally be mixed with other ingredients such as milk powder and sugar, and sprinkled with water or other liquid, eg milk. He then sets the lid 20 on the vessel 10th and screw it firmly into the vessel 10. Now, the user grips the handle member 45 and thus moves the mixing unit 40 up and down. As a result, the threaded spindle 41 and the mixing element 42 are put into the already mentioned screw movement and thereby mix the ingredients of the drink. The closure 30 is in the closed position, in order to avoid splashing out of the beverage. To subsequently drink the beverage, the user places the mixing unit 40 in its lower position and pivots the closure 30 into the holding position, initially assisted by the spring element 36. In the holding position, the closure 30 blocks the mixing unit 40 in the lower position. The user can now comfortably drink the beverage via the drinking opening 29 and the drinking edge 26 without being hindered by the mixing unit 40 and without the risk of the mixing unit 40 suddenly slipping out of the lid. Due to the double-walled design of the vessel, the beverage retains its temperature over a longer period of time. FIG. 5 illustrates a second embodiment of the invention, which represents a variant of the first embodiment. In this case equivalent parts are denoted by the same reference numerals as in Figures 1-4. This embodiment differs from the first embodiment in that the grip element 45 has in its near-axis region a circumferential sealing element 47 in the form of an O-ring, which produces a seal between the grip element 45 and the cover 20 together with the recess 24.

Of course, a variety of modifications are possible without departing from the scope of the invention, and the invention is in no way limited to the above exemplary embodiments.

In particular, the vessel does not need to be double-walled and / or transparent. The lid need not be designed to drink directly from the vessel, but may also be designed for pouring the drink. The vessel may be provided with a handle, for example. A variety of other closure forms are possible without the basic function of the closure must be changed. In particular, it is conceivable that the closure is articulated on only one side of the longitudinal axis of the lid, so that the closure have an asymmetric basic shape can. The closure body can also be designed differently and form, for example, a circumferential sealing lip which surrounds the removal opening. The preparation unit may comprise other preparation elements than the propeller-type mixing element illustrated here, eg a sieve element, a wire loop arrangement, etc. The handle element of the preparation unit and the recess in the lid for receiving it may have various other shapes. In this case, instead of in a rear region remote from the removal opening, the grip element can also be fixed in a lateral area offset from the removal opening by less than 180 °. A variety of other modifications is possible.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

10 vessel 29 drinking opening

11 outer bottom 30 lock

12 inner floor 31 operating area

13 connection area 32 closure body

14 outer side wall 33 hook-like area

15 inner side wall 34 carrier

16 cuff 35 notch

17 female thread 36 spring element

0 lid 37 chamfer

1 jacket wall 40 mixing unit

2 top wall 41 threaded spindle

3 male thread 42 mixing element

4 recess 43 Locknut

5 guide sleeve 44 socket

6 drinking edge 45 grip element

7 rear edge region 46 grip area

8 flank area 47 sealing element

Claims

1. Beverage maker, pointing out:

an upwardly open vessel (10);

a lid covering the vessel (20) in which a discharge opening (29) is formed;

an actuating rod (41) extending through a passage opening of the cover (20) into the vessel (10) and defining a longitudinal axis;

a preparation element (42) mounted within the vessel (10) on the actuator rod (41);

an outside of the vessel (10) on the actuating rod (41) attached to the handle element (45) which is movable together with the actuating rod (41) between a lower position near the lid and a lid-off upper position, and

a closure (30) movably connected to the lid and movable between a closing position closing the removal opening (29) and a holding position releasing the removal opening (29),

wherein in the holding position the closure (30) fixes the grip element (45) in its lower position,

characterized in that the closure (30) between the closed position and the holding position about a transverse to the longitudinal axis extending horizontal pivot axis relative to the cover (20) is pivotable.

2. beverage maker according to claim 1, wherein the closure (30) over the

Handle member (45) away from the closed position in the holding position is pivotable when the handle member (45) is in its lower position.

3. beverage maker according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the closure (30) in the holding position, the grip element (45) at least partially covered at the top.

4. beverage maker according to claim 3, wherein the handle element (45) has a region near the axis and a region close to the axis of transversely to the longitudinal axis protruding region (46), and wherein in the holding position of the closure (30) the projecting portion (46) of the handle element (45) at least partially covered.

5. beverage maker according to one of the preceding claims, wherein at least a first latching structure (35) is formed on the closure (30) in order to releasably engage the closure (30) in the holding position with the cover (20).

6. beverage maker according to claim 5, wherein the first latching structure (35) a

Notch comprises, which is latched in the holding position with a rear edge region (27) of the lid (20).

7. beverage maker according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the

Closure (30) at least one second latching structure (33) is formed to releasably lock the closure (30) in the closed position with the lid.

8. beverage maker according to claim 7, wherein the closure (30) has a projecting actuating portion (31), and wherein the second latching structure (33) is formed by a hook-like bent portion of the actuating portion, which covers a front edge region of the lid in the closed position and releasably locked with this.

9. beverage maker according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the

Swivel axis has a greater distance from the removal opening than the longitudinal axis.

10. Beverage maker according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the lid in a front edge region has a drinking edge (26) which is adapted to lead a removable through the removal opening beverage on the drinking edge directly to the mouth.

1 1. beverage maker according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein in the lid (20) has a recess (24) is formed, which accommodates at least partially a near-axis region of the handle member (45) in the lower position of the handle member (45).

12. beverage maker according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the closure (30) has a closure body (32) for closing the removal opening (29), and wherein the closure has two arms (34) from the closure body (32) on both sides of the Passage opening are guided past and whose free ends are pivotally connected in the region of the pivot axis with the lid (20).

13. beverage maker according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the actuating rod (41) is designed as a threaded spindle with an external thread and in the passage opening of the lid (20) is formed a complementary to the external thread internal thread.

14. beverage maker according to claim 13, wherein the handle element (45) about the longitudinal axis rotatably mounted on the actuating rod (41).

15. beverage maker according to claim 13 or 14, wherein the preparation element (42) is designed as a mixing element with at least one of the actuating rod (41) extending transversely to the longitudinal axis outwardly stirring arm.